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Three Stranded Guys (Joke)

My informant is Granti, a 19-year-old male student at USC. Grant was born and raised in Los Angeles, however his father is from Iran and his mother is from Japan. Both of these cultures influence his life in different ways. This piece of folklore is a tradition performed on a holiday.

Do you know any jokes?

Grant: “Actually now that you mention it I know one. So there are these three guys stranded on an island and umm there’s this guy, I can’t remember he’s like a genie or something. And he says go bring me ten fruit and I will uh let you get off the island or something like that. So they all go out and the first guy grabs apples and comes back. The genie is like if you can fit all ten up your butt I will help you get off the island. The first guy starts putting the apples up his butt, gets to four and can’t help himself from cracking up laughing so the genie says you’re done. The next guy comes through bringing cherries and the genie says the same thing. The second guy is getting there…8…9…then starts dying laughing. The genie exclaims “Why’d you stop you were so close!” and the second guy responds “I was about to do it but then I saw the third guy come back with pineapples”

Do you remember where you first heard this joke?

Grant: “I think my dad told me it honestly”

And where’s he from?

Grant: “He’s from Iran”

Have you told this joke often?

Grant: “I really haven’t told that joke it just came to my mind”

Does it have any meaning to you or is it just a joke?

Grant: “It’s just a joke to me”

I think this joke is really funny, especially because it’s a little raunchy. It was interesting that Grant admitted to not even telling this joke but once we started talking and trading stories he just remembered it as an old joke that his father used to tell. If we hadn’t started talking about folklore Grant may have completely forgotten this joke but now it is fresh in his mind.